Floodlights and Footlights
July 5, 1947
p. 22
Comes word of a new record company under a new label, “Fortune Records.” They are interested in small vocal-instrumental Combos for juke box exploitation… Andy Oliver and his crew including Duke Williams are making regular runs on the Normandie now… the Hudson River Day Lines that is… Decca has taken over distribution of Commodore records now, which makes lots of those hard-to-get records by Billie Holiday and Eddie Heywood available… the fabulous Leadbelly has an album of six sides for Disc… don’t overlook it… Andy Kirk has a fine one, “I Know,” by Decca… Teddy Wilson seems to mean it when he says he’s retired from active band work to concentrate on teaching…
Astor pictures sends us a long news release about their latest picture featuring Negro stars, and spells Negro with a small letter every time. With all that contact with Negroes, haven’t they learned yet?… Dusty Fletcher is cute. He falls into Phil Williams’ place feeling fine, insults most of the folks there including the waitress, and when someone answers him in the same vein, his feelings are hurt, and he stalks out highly indignant… Oscar Moore, ace guitarist of the King Cole Trio, it says here, is a rapt listener to Segovia, the classical guitarist and also to Vincente Gomez. “Man,” Oscar is supposed to have said, “They really PLAY guitar!” The wise expression Oscar used on his face the last time he was at the Paramount with King Cole led me to believe that he couldn’t possibly think anyone could play but Oscar…
The annual series of 54 name band dances was inaugurated Thursday in the city parks. Now in [its] sixth season, this gives New Yorkers a whole summer of dancing under the stars. Watch currently for ”Hot Lips” Page, Sammy Dunham, and Johnny Long… Lena Horne, in person and lovely as ever, was at Salem Church, Sunday, receiving an honor award from Riverdale Children’s Association. Phillippa Schuyler is also on the program… watch for Pat Flowers, new young piano stylist, whom Fats Waller endorsed highly…
Manhattan Paul is back at the Baby Grand with his breezy entertainment… Eva Welch Voorhiest was great in her presentation of her piano pupils at the YWCA auditorium, Wednesday… ”The Pirates of Penzance” now in rehearsal at the Mark Hopkins Junior High School in Brooklyn, has quite a democratic point of view with a mixed cast… Lee Norman is set to do eight sides for a leading record company featuring Mary Lou Williams on piano, Fats Thomas on vocals, Ben Webster on tenor sax, Frank Humphreys on trumpet, with the rest of Norman’s usual rhythm section, Wow! Please reserve my copy early of that combination…
The Loumell Morgan Trio is down at the Bengasi in Washington but will make their Harlem Hospitality Broadcast every Saturday… Julia Lee and Nellie Lutcher are two rising platter stars on Capital Records… Frankie “Sugar Chile” Robinson, 8-year-old boogie woogie specialist was a guest on the Eddie Duchin “Kraft Music Hall,” Thursday. His relaxed sophistication makes him a top-notch radio personality… and did you hear Kenneth Spencer on his guest shot with Jinx and Ted, Friday, am? What a voice, and what savoir faire! He’s got everything.
Will Jock’s Music Room stay open?… the greatest mass pre-release of a picture in the history of MGM will be that of ”The Hucksters” which opens in July… from out Cleveland way comes word that Babe Wallace has created and introduced a new dance which will be spotlighted soon at the Apollo with fanfare… Sarah Vaughn is in DC for a limited engagement on U st… Slant Stewart and his trio are currently regaling the sing[ing] fans in Los Angeles… He’s at the Toddle Club for four weeks… it says here that Cootie Williams is being sued because the hot notes from his horn frightened a horse who was attached to a vegetable wagon and loss of merchandise ensured…
Boston wants more of Arnett Cobb who is at the Savoy Cafe there… talented Ziggy Johnson has staged the show at the Paradise in Atlantic City, and he MC’s it and dances in it too… So does Larry Steele for the Club Harlem, plus that both Larry and Ziggy sing. It’s enough to give anybody an inferiority complex!… The famous Basin Street Boys open at Club Three Sixes in Detroit before coming to the Apollo this summer… the cocktail at Small’s Paradise, Sunday, by that fighting committee was OK, with plenty of talent on hand like Ann Cornell, Lee Norman, Bill Chase, and plenty of others (pics next week).